A mid-19th century lithograph showing the façade of Rossenarra, County Kilkenny. Dating from the early 1800s the house’s Palladian manner must have seemed rather anachronistic by the time of its construction. The architect responsible is sometimes claimed to be James Hoban, a local man who in the mid-1780s emigrated to the United States of America where he achieved considerable renown, not least for designing the White House in Washington. Rossenarra has other American connections, since in the last century it was home for a period to New York-born Richard Condon, author of such novels as The Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi’s Honor.
Lovely drawing. Thanks for posting this.
Have you been to Rossenarra House itself? If so, might we expect photographs to appear on this blog at some point?
Thank you for your comments. Rossenarra is as yet unvisited, being still on the ‘To Do’ list: I believe it may be for sale at present…
I should also note that the fenestration on the main block of Rossenarra House is rather unusual, with vertical panes set in an unusual ascending 5-4-3 pattern. This exactly corresponds to what James Hoban proposed with his three-story 1792 competition design for what eventually became the White House.